Reauthorization Bill 'Fine-Tunes' Special-Ed. Law

Washington--The chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on the
Handicapped last week proposed draft reauthorization legislation making
relatively modest changes in federal special-education programs.

Although it contains some initiatives--addressing such areas as the
needs of seriously emotionally disturbed children and the nationwide
shortage of special educators--the proposal largely focuses on
"finetuning" current law, said Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of
Iowa.

Senator Harkin stressed the need for stability in special-education
programs, in the wake of legislation approved by the Congress in 1983
and 1986 providing for major expansions of programs for handicapped
infants and toddlers.

"We must be careful not to overburden the system by placing major
new demands on state and local education agencies as they attempt to
implement these important new programs," he said in releasing the draft
measure.

Portions of the Education of the Handicapped Act authorizing $170
million in spending for research, dissemination, training, technical
as4sistance, and model programs expired Sept. 30. But, under another
federal education law, those programs were automatically extended for
one year.

Last week's reauthorization proposal was the third such draft in
recent weeks. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans and the
Democrats on the subcommittee that oversees special-education programs
have circulated separate proposals.

Some advocates for the handicapped have expressed concern that the
partisan split within the House subcommittee--on an issue where
bipartisanship normally prevails--could stall action on the
reauthorization. (See Education Week, Sept. 6, 1989.)

All three proposals address the need to recruit and train more
special educators. The shortage of trained personnel has been as high
as 27,000 in recent years, according to one estimate.

Similarly, each proposal would make federally funded research in the
field more accessible to practitioners and parents. And all address the
needs of seriously emotionally disturbed children--a population many
experts believe falls through the cracks between special-education,
juvenile-justice, and mental-health agencies.

Mr. Harkin's proposal also would:

Give priority for grants and contracts to projects addressing the
needs of handicapped infants and toddlers and children and youths from
racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities.

Reverse a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that prohibited lawsuits
against states for alleged violations of the federal special-education
law.

Call for research to address the many changes that a handicapped
child faces--including transitions from medical care to school, from
residential placements to community-based programs, from separate
classrooms to regular classrooms, and from school to work or further
study.--dv

Vol. 09, Issue 05

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